The Meditation of Craftsmanship 

The meditation of craftsmanship is a firsthand investigation into the shared qualities of Buddhist and Yoga meditation with traditional Japanese woodcraft and to see how these techniques create a physical space that facilitates an integral sensory experience between mind, body, and spirit, all encompassed in the Chanoyu tea ceremony.  The student will show how practicing Japanese woodcraft and participating in the Chanoyu tea ceremony invite meditation that “recycles neurons”, an essential process in further developing critical thinking skills.  Working with the Chanoyu: Traditional Japanese Culture and the Way of Tea program, the student will join in the construction of a traditional Japanese tea house on campus and practice Chanoyu tea ceremonies with the class.  Conclusions drawn from the investigation will be presented in a final 5-7 page paper that integrates weekly field observations and poetry posted to an online forum.  The paper will be presented week 10 along with a demonstration of woodworking and an interactive component using Chanoyu and haiku.

ABCs and 123s – weekly log and field notes

• Wo week 7 February 25, 2013 February 17th – February 23rd 10 hours – in shop 8 hours – in class 6 hours – reading the Dhammapada, In Praise of Shadows, What Is Japanese Architecture?, Tea in Japan, Reading ...
• Wo week 6 February 18, 2013 February 10th to 16th 4 hours – in shop 8 hours – in class learning tea prep and drinking 3 hours – reading Dhammapada, Ma (Insterstice) and Rubble, Ma: Space and Time, In ...
• Wo week 5 January 23, 2013 February 3rd – 9th 4 hours – in class learning and practicing Chanoyu 8 hours – in wood shop 2 hours – reading Dhammapada, What is Japanese Architecture, Reading in the Brain We began ...

Bachelardian Reverie

• Wo bachelard #2 February 13, 2013 “And in free reverie, they (man and woman) speak in order to admit their desires, to communicate in the tranquility of a well harmonized double nature.” – 59 “…the human psychism ...

Poetry

• wo – poetry week 8 – Emergence emerge from within settle back down to earth adjusting your eyes what do you see now? did you build what dreams may come? there, sits a tea house i see it scatter each piece beautifully diverse individual i see ...
• Wo poetry week 7 – Meditation Meditation It moves slowly through eye of the eye seeing you Blank stares, darkened blue If thoughts are the flames casting shadows in our lives embrace the darkness Flickering light beams still pass through shadows of night what dreams ...
• Wo poetry week 6 – Building Building elements lift up latice work locked into place what secrets lie hidden here? in the joint, the truss complexity lies hidden humbly holding us we build little cells blood and flesh, within which dwell trillions of other stories ...
• Wo poetry week 5 – Forming Forming Saw teeth cut wood grain Apoptosis shaves away Sculpting forms in space Chisels peel and pierce Ancient sculptures of flesh Revealing (hidden) layers Ghostly blueprints find Themselves laid down onto wood Hinting what will come Moving from carelessness To vigilance, ...

Poetry Observed

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJleRRj4-Vw]

Term Paper Abstract

Read full term paper here

[http://blogs.evergreen.edu/ealphabet/wo-term-paper-winter/]